The Future of Empowering Youth Through Innovative Solutions with Adebayo Adekola

In this episode of Codex Futures, host Louise Newson sits down with Adebayo Adekola, former Head of Innovation Portfolios and Governance at UNICEF’s Office of Innovation, to unpack what innovation really means when viewed through the lives of children and young people.

Ade demystifies innovation as something deeply human, rooted in everyday problem‑solving, and shares how UNICEF applies this mindset at global scale: from health, mental health, and education to humanitarian response, climate, and youth development. Together, Louise and Ade explore how child‑centred design, lived experience, and community co‑creation shape breakthrough solutions, and why investing in social good isn’t at odds with commercial value, but foundational to it.

The conversation brings innovation to life through real‑world examples, including a powerful humanitarian feedback system that gives vulnerable communities a voice, reduces waste, and improves impact at scale. Looking ahead, Ade reflects on the future of live, learn, and play, discussing mental health, education, play, technology, and AI, alongside the critical need for safeguards, ethics, and children’s rights in a rapidly changing world.

Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed by the guest on this podcast are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BBVA.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

When you invest in social good and so you know innovation from a social lens, that builds the foundation for profitability.

SPEAKER_01 0:09

Hello and welcome to Codex Futures, a triptych podcast decoding how we'll live, learn, and play in the future. Each episode, we dive into a different industry to uncover the trends, cultural shifts, and powerful forces reshaping it and what those changes mean for the people driving innovation forward. In today's episode, we are particularly focused on live, learn and play through the lens of children and youth. I'm thrilled to be joined by Ade Adecola. At the time of recording, he was the head of innovation portfolios and governance at UNICEF's Office of Innovation, and now he is managing partner at AdeAdex Global Consulting. Together we'll explore how creativity, technology, and purpose come together to design a better future, especially for children and youth around the world. Welcome Ade. Wonderful to have you.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Thank you so much, Louise. Great to be here and inviting to join the podcast.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Fantastic. No, thank you for your time and really looking forward to hearing your thoughts. To kick off, uh I'd love if you could tell us firstly about your role today. And then secondly, maybe if you could rewind a little bit and talk a little bit about your journey into the role and why you're here today.

SPEAKER_00 1:35

So we do have different portfolios. And what this basically means is we try to identify, validate, and skill innovations. Aligned with this work is also the governance of innovation, which is very important. We need to get leadership behind innovation. We need to get leadership to be part of innovation. We need innovation in the way we work. And so we also have a governance mechanism in our global innovation board to help shape that direction in terms of governance. So that, in a nutshell, is what I do. Talking about my journey, um, I would say that one thing that has shaped my journey in innovation is the need to find new ways of doing things. We basically face new challenges every time. And we also walk in different contexts with different challenges. For me, I would say innovation always starts with what can we do differently, how can we do it better, and what can we improve in the work that we do. So my journey as um as a professional, which started in the financial services to working in international public health consulting, um, which focused on USAID at that time projects, and also working in non-for-profit and the UN. I would say that um I've applied, have been able to apply innovation in different aspects of work, be it supply, finance, financial services, consulting, and now the UN system. So I don't know where next to begin, but at least now I'm here with UN. Yeah. So that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Wow, fantastic. Yeah, fantastic. What uh what an amazing journey. I'm curious about, you know, you mentioned innovation is about doing something better, doing something new. Is that is that what what does innovation mean to you? Is that what innovation is? Like how would you define it?

SPEAKER_00 3:28

Number one, I would say that many times from my experience, we need to demystify innovation because people feel like it's something from outer space.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

However, innovation is very simple. Let me use a typical example. Every day we we innovate, even in our homes, and we say, okay, how do I get the kids to school today when I have a meeting at nine and my spouse has a meeting at nine, how do we figure this out? Do we call Uber? Do we talk to a neighbor? Do we talk to another parent? So for me, innovation is in my own thinking, is really asking this major question: what can I do differently? How can I do it differently? And how do I do it better? I feel that the more we ask those sort of questions, it drives that innovation in the way we work, in the things we do, and the things we invest in as well. So for me, innovation is doing things differently in very layman terms and finding ways to do it better, be it tech, be it business, be it processes, be it marketing, branding, it's just finding a way to do things better. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Yeah. No, I love I love that kind of simplicity of the definition. And actually, you know, your story makes me think it's actually very instinctive. It's part of human nature. It's how you learn from a child, you know, try something, yeah, do something differently, try it again.

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Really nice. And I'm curious, you know, your journey, you've got across different industries. You started out in finance, a lot of social good, international. Do you see there's any differences in industries and how they approach innovation? Is there a common red thread that runs across all, or is it quite different?

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Um, I would say in terms of processes, it's the same. Everybody would um many times you have to design, ideate, and repeat the same, you know, it's the same process. You have to experiment in some cases. They use different terminologies. Some prefer to maybe they experiment, you know, some use RD in terms of their processes, then they, you know, build it out, and then they, you know, try to test it and pilot it, and then you know, they scale it. So different industries follow basically the same processes. I would say that what I've found to be very different is the urgent, the urgency and the need very differs across organizations. So, for example, when I was in the financial services, innovation is about, you know, how do we provide better services to our clients? And that begins to now inform the way we provide service. So there's a lot of service-driven innovation, even though there are lots of products from the financial services. Um, the same principle applies even in the social goods, um, you know, doing social goods, you know, um, in various countries. Also, okay, what does the client really need? But now it's not very, it's not profit-driven. It's more about you thinking about how do I do this with less cost? How do I do it together with people? How do I bring the community along in this innovation? So the difference from you know, the private sector that I've worked is basically about okay, we are driving towards profit a lot. But for social good, I would say it's about really driving the social capital and and being able to, you know, change the lives of people, in the lives of children, in you know, in the case of UNICEF, um, which eventually leads to profitability. So that's the that is also what pe a lot of people don't know. When you invest in social good and so, you know, innovation from a social lens, that builds the foundation for profitability. And I think that's something that also the sectors need to understand, including even impact investors, need to know by what you are doing builds a foundation for profitability in the long run.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

That's that's so interesting. Yeah, I mean, really, really obvious point, but I think it's really interesting to for you to highlight it that actually profitability is still there, but it maybe comes as the as the end rather than the first goal. Goal, yes. What it's like with innovation in the commercial world. Yeah. Okay, interesting. Well and thinking, I guess, specifically through the lens of children and youth, yeah, how does that affect your your view of innovation?

SPEAKER_00 7:42

I would say that when a lot of people talk about innovation, it's about the future. It's about, you know, how do we prepare for the future? How do we make sure that we are ready for the future? And how do we make sure that, as we said in the beginning, doing things differently? From the lens of children and young people, I would say that personally, it's really helping them prepare for the future. That's one of the big things I would say is helping child, you know, helping them prepare for the future, equipping them for the future as well. So it's not just preparing for the future, but equipping them for the future. And from the lens also helping them annest their rats, rights to basic needs, rights to um their own voice in even from the lens of innovation. I think one of the things that UNICEF is doing very well is helping people see things from a child-centered lens and from a young people's lens. So if you have like a new innovation, the question we ask is where is a child in the middle of all this? How do have you gotten the perspective of a child and young people in this innovation? What is their role in, you know, that innovation? Asking those questions about how they are involved, what it does for them, how it helps them to be better. I feel that is what that's the perspective we bring from the lens of children and also young people, which also trickles into health, education, child protection, nutrition, early childhood development, humanitarian work that we do, livelihood, scaling. So it trickles into all of these areas, but the key question is where are they, where are the young people in this um conversation? How are they helping to build it? How are they helping to co-create it? So that's I would say is the way we and I personally also view innovation for young people, by young people, and with young people.

SPEAKER_01 9:40

I love that. I love that. It's amazing. So when you talked about like the client in the innovation process, it sounds, you know, absolutely the the children and youth are the the heart of it. They're the client who are driving this through for the audience.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

So does it normally start then with a a problem that's a kind of a children and youth problem? That's that's the origin of your innovation process. Could you could you kind of unpack that a little bit and talk me through how that works?

SPEAKER_00 10:06

So one of the good things is that we've done from a UNICERT perspective is starting with a problem. But one of the things we've also realized over time is that the problems are also multidimensional.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Yeah, of course.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

So you could have, you know, a simple problem of reaching children or reaching a community. Let's start with a community with basic supplies. Maybe it could be food, it could be nutrition, it could be emergency supplies. The question we ask is how do we get it to the communities? How do we get it to the caregivers? Because many times children and young people still are with their families, caregivers, their mothers, their fathers. So the question for us and also the institutions that support children. So when we are talking about it, it's not only um about just focusing on the children alone, but every supporting system that helps to get to that child. So um that's why I mentioned that it's also very multidimensional because it's like what institutions are there that support children? So we ask the questions, what problems are you facing? So we also ask from the caregivers, what problems are you facing in line with this bigger agenda? We also ask also, even from policymakers, what problems are you facing? And how are we bringing the child to that policy lens as well? Also, even when we talk about maybe investing or even in financing, the question is how do we make sure that you know children are brought into that conversation? So when we are tackling the problem, we are addressing it properly. Sometimes some of the challenges we might sometimes that we see is that people say, the problem I want to face is how do I get the supplies to them? And that is it. So they feel like, oh, we need transport, we need warehousing, we need to make sure it gets to them to the last mile. Or the question will be, does it get to the child? So that is the way we try to drive our problems, and that's the way we try to shape that problems together with them. The last point I want to make around this is around sitting in the room with those facing those problems as well. Understanding it from a human-centered lens. And that's why design is very important to the work that we do. Understanding what they go through, their journeys through it, and finding where UNICEF and partners can play a big role in addressing the biggest bottlenecks. I think that's also helps us a lot with our countries, with our partners, and with the communities. I think that's that's one of the ways we also try to address some of the problems we face.

SPEAKER_01 12:42

Absolutely. So you it's very much kind of on the ground. You're speaking to people, you're living and experiencing things firsthand.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Because the lived experience is the best. People who are going through that challenge are the best people to say, this is how we can solve it. This is how we can address the situation. And then we can say, okay, we know a couple of innovations, or do you even have your own innovation? How do we make sure it's it's optimized and it's maximized so that way, you know, you also get more ownership to that um innovation or even the innovative process?

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the way you're talking about it is innovation is absolutely a journey, isn't it? It's not just the thing at the end. It's every step along the way to drive the impact.

SPEAKER_00 13:27

Absolutely. Absolutely. That's absolutely right.

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Do you have um would love to kind of bring this to life a little bit with a I don't know if you have an example of a recent project or partnership or exactly how you've gone through that process that you're particularly proud or excited about?

SPEAKER_00 13:40

So I would use one of example that I would. It's actually an innovation that won um Gold Anthem Award. It's called Kits That Feet, Kits That Feats. Now, I'll start with the problem that we realized. Some of the we realized while um, you know, delivering goods or supplies to people in most vulnerable and fragile settings, we realized that there was a need for us to begin to ask from the communities what, you know, how can we continue to adapt? Because you know, in an emergency situation, the needs change. It's it's not like now, maybe the within the next uh maybe one month, it could be a specific need. In the second to six months, it could be another different need. So for us, what we wanted to get was to get the voice of the communities in deciding the supplies that will come over to them. So that name Kits that feet was trying to address that voice of the community. And it's it was very simple. From the supplies that are given, we put a simple UR code to those supplies such that we are able to get the feedback from the communities to say, you know, for example, girls, how do we, you know, you know, provide like wash, I mean, water and sanitation and hygiene um supplies. And that feedback helps us go back to, you know, our supply team, helps us go back to the manufacturers, helps us to even localize those supplies to be able to serve those communities. And that feedback has helped us even in the way we deliver, in the way we supply to them. So it's a cure code that can be got that can be supported by sitting with someone or speaking to someone or even on the phone, if they have access to phone. And that helps also to inform basically our localization agenda, meaning that we are able to get supplies even from the local communities, the regions, and build the system. So for me, I think that is it's a very simple process or innovation, but it's as the impact has been really been great in terms of reaching more than a million um people. And it has really also helped to give a voice, I would say, to most vulnerable population, children, women, young people, um, and making them key actors in the humanitarian work as well. So that for us, that I would say is one of the biggest um experiences I've had, and it's really real life, and it has been used in various emergency situations as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Wow, fantastic. Oh, congratulations. That sounds amazing.

SPEAKER_00 16:22

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

And so so I think, yeah, the most powerful innovations are often you just need simplicity as you know a way to do something good and better.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yes, yes, that's it.

unknown 16:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:34

And I guess linked to your kind of your first point about profit, like I assume that means the kits are exactly optimized for what's needed. So it does save. I mean, yeah, it it's got a commercial pace as well.

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Yes, yes. And what it does also is the commercial value of um, you know, um addressing issues of utilization, issues of um waste as well. Because when people are using it, you're saving costs as well. So that also is a good thing because if you know what people need, they would use it. And then that's also value. And it's once they you also understand the demand, what happens is there is also increasing demand for for the need. So in the long run, you could see that it the the feedback loops helps to eventually create that demand that is actually needed for value creation and profitability as needed. But for us, I think value creation is um is the most important for us, yeah, in this role.

SPEAKER_01 17:36

Yeah. And there's almost like a it's not static, there's a continuous improvement cycle built into just the nature of the mechanic, isn't it? Because you're learning and adapting and then learning more. And yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:46

I think that point you made about learning and adapting is one big thing. I believe that big organizations that have done innovation well, they've really been learning and adapting to the needs of the people.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

I think if we look at the innovations that we see today, one of the big things is adapting to the needs of and I think that's one of the practices we are also adopting in our work.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Yeah. Yeah. Fantastic. Amazing. I guess shifting gears a little bit, thinking about kind of the future. Again, let's let's definitely keep the lens of children and youth. But what are some of the big forces of change that you're seeing? And what do you think is going to be impacting the future of children and youth? Um big question.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

Yeah, it's a big question, and it's um it's also very interesting because one thing, uh, key principle for us is that they are the future. Children are the future. So the question is what will really impact their lives? And I would I would take it from the lens of um, as you said, um the leave, learn and play. Yes, absolutely. It's one of the big um, it's a core theme of of the podcast. Number one is I would say is what impact them, you know, how children live in the future. Looking at things from, for example, from the urban people living in urban centers to living in, you know, communities, um, in terms of also their new their health, basically. Increasingly, we are also seeing a lot of focus on mental health broadly as well. So, not just health, nutrition, healthy childhood development, but we are also, of course, there's also a big um focus on the mental health of children and young people. We also are seeing a lot around their nutrition. Everybody wants healthy food, everybody wants to make sure they are eating healthy. I also also believe that one of the biggest things is also making sure we have safe spaces for children, how they live, the safe spaces, which speaks to some of our work around child protection as well. That would, I would say, will really be big and major for children. In terms of learning, there's a lot of shifts, you know, innovative methods, you know, approaches. There's lens around learning digitally as well.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

And um, the impact it will have on the education of children. So it's a two-way thing about not just the digital, but also the approaches that have been used for learning, which is which has evolved over the years. It's like everybody's saying this is a better way of learning, this is a better way of learning less. So there'll be a lot around that as well, including ed tech, um, shaping that. And I would say in terms of play, there is a big um focus, and this is also very research-based on how play is influencing this development of children, um, how play is um impacting how they learn as well. So for me, I would say that there would be a lot more. There will be a lot more. There's a lot of things happening, but I would say for children and young people, it's basically going to be more social um their environment. There'll be a lot of influence around the environment. There will be a lot of influence around the care for children, and also there will be a lot of focus on even policies for children. Yeah, and also the use of technology as well. So there'll there'll be a lot of changes, but these are some of the things that we've seen also in our work that would affect young people and the future of how they grow up, how they learn, how they become adults in the society, and um using a life course approach.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah. I mean, yes, so so many so many areas.

SPEAKER_00 21:31

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:36

What are what are kind of the the key problem areas or where do you think innovation is needed most in that landscape?

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Hmm, that's a big question. I I think it's a broad it's a very broad spectrum.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

But I would say that um linked to the our strategic plan, which We are going into the new one for 2026 to 2029 for UNICEF. I would say that the first is around making sure that the development of every child. I I would say making sure that that that holistic approach to development for child and development of young people from their mental to you know to um their nutrition to their their health and everything related to that. I think that would be one of the big things. The second is how they live, how they learn as well, and how they are skilled. I think skilling, learning and skilling will be a big one because learning is okay, you've gone through the traditional school, but there's also the skilling path that helps to prepare them for the future and helps them to be able to earn a living and livelihood. So that also is going to be, I would say, a big one. The third one is also addressing the issue of um, I would say, multi-dimensional poverty. That would also be because poverty is not in certain places, it's now, it's now something we have to think about from a multidimensional lens, making sure that every household can take care of their children and they can address the need. The last is around protecting the child, but protection also from the lens of the environment, disaster, providing safe spaces. So I would say these are the four, five areas that we've seen that will really um that we would really need to think of how innovation can help to drive that forward.

SPEAKER_01 23:35

Sure, amazing. Um and you know, it's it's difficult to talk have a conversation with the about the future without mentioning AI, isn't it? And it's uh and how that's that's changing everything and every industry. I'm curious on your your take on it actually. Like what what do you see the opportunity with it and and are there risks that we need to watch out for?

SPEAKER_00 23:55

Yeah, um, in terms of AI, I think AI is uh um shaping um a lot of things right now. There's um a lot of momentum that we've seen across the board. For us, one of the things we focus on is um child-centered and ethical and responsible use of AI. Definitely there there needs to be a balance of the potential good and also the safeguarding, especially from a child and young people lens. Two things are shaping how we are seeing AI. AI in driving our own internal efficiencies in the way we work, making sure we can use AI in our work, in our daily work to make sure there is efficiency in terms of content simplification, in terms of um, you know, um helping to gain efficiency. So that's one bit. But the second is leveraging it in programmatic use. And some of the safe ways we've um leveraged is you know, using it in translating like speech to text and text to speech.

SPEAKER_01 24:59

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Using it in like assistive technologies, leveraging it in um in scaling as well. I think these are ways in which we've used mid. There's another part that we've also been really focusing on is advocacy and the research around AI. Um, helping people understand, okay, how do we make sure that the child is not forgotten in any AI policy? How do we understand that every stakeholder understands, you know, the use and implications of this use? And how do we put necessary safeguards to make sure that the child is protected and young people are protected while they use AI? Um, yeah, and I think also just making sure we have ethical principles for the use of AI. I think that's the way we see AI. There's a good, I mean, the potential benefits of it, but we also always want people to also understand that we have to be balanced as well in it. So that's the way we view the lens of use of AI in in it. Because the reality is that people are using it.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 26:05

People are using it, but we have to we have it, we have to make sure that we have the right policies, the right systems, the right abilities, the right safeguards for responsible use. So that's the way we see um the use of AI.

SPEAKER_01 26:20

Yeah, absolutely. And how do you think I guess it's it's interesting, you know, the whole live-learn play. For me personally, I feel like it's the learn, like how are children, I've I've got a nearly five-year-old, but like how is that gonna affect how her brain shapes and how and how she learns and digests information? Like, what are your thoughts around those specific angles? Like, how is AI going to change how children do live, learn, and play?

SPEAKER_00 26:43

For me, I would say, let me bring it from a whole technology because I would say that is also part of Frontier Tech and it's not just only AI. Yeah, yeah. It involves also like blockchain and a number of other tech solutions, and how does that affect um I would say number one is a lot of people are seeing technology improving the way we live, basically. From a child lens, it's helping, you know, it's helping us get better data to um better data that we can use to inform our work around children. So that's some of the big things for us. Leveraging big data for children and um being able to say, okay, maybe in this community, this is a trend. How do we use that to inform interventions and solutions as well, and even innovations as well? So that I would say in terms of technology, there's a use of leveraging big data for for interventions and for the work that we do. As you said, the children that we have right now, there was a there's a lot of playing outside while we evolve with various technologies as well, you know, from the days of you know the brick games to, you know, to you know, having our, you know, you know, TVs and then, of course, laptops and every other thing and CPUs and all these things, you know. Um, I would I would say that there is definitely going to be an evol um a lot of evolution. What we need to make sure that we are well prepared for is understanding how this begins to shape, you know, how children use this um this um technologies, understanding what is the benefits, understanding some of the pitfalls around it. Um and just being clear about, as I said, one of the big words for us is the safeguards around it, making sure that they are guided, making sure that adults are involved when as much as possible, making sure that um we protect the rights of every child. I think the rights is very important. I think that is in the use of technology, I think protecting the rights of every child is one of our biggest um advocates, one of the things we are advocating for. In terms of play, I think every child now, many children, they play a lot of video games. In fact, one of the work that we do, it's called the Game Changers Coalition, where we work with the gaming industry um to be able to improve um the STEM skills in girls. It's one of the work that we are doing. So it's not just we are trying to make it fun as well, whereby children are not just, it's not about gaming, because we know children spend time gaining, you know, with games. But what we are trying to do is how can we annex that to build their skills in terms of science, technology, arts, and mathematics as well. And that's one of the ways we are also leveraging the play lens to drive it, um, drive this work as well. But we also are looking at it also from a research lens, building research to support and drive this element as well. So um, these are some of the ways we we are trying to see how tech can drive things, but still maintaining elements around like online safety for children, which is very critical in age. So that's the way we we are thinking about it.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it sounds like yeah, the the right kind of balance for you. There's obviously huge opportunities, but I think you know your your your language of safeguarding absolutely captures it.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

But I'm curious, just want to dig on. You mentioned like the the the rights of children. We we need to protect the rights of children. Could you talk a little bit about more about what you mean by that?

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Yeah. So for us at UNICEF, um, one of the things that we, one of the things for our work is to advocate for the protection of um children's rights, help them meet their basic need, and also expand their opportunities to reach their full potentials.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 30:48

This is guided by the Convention on the Rights of Children. Um, and for UNICEF, that's what we try to affirm with ethical principles and international standard of behavior for children. So for us, it's in three ways protecting the rights of children, helping meet basic needs, and expanding those opportunities for children and young people. And I think that's core to the work. So, rights is not only about advocacy, it's about making sure that everybody has access to, and that's also what also the underlying principle behind our innovation. How do we ensure access to basic supplies, basic needs, but how do we also create opportunities for them to be able to become responsible adults in every society and be able to leave their full potential and become whatever they want to be in life and um become the next CEOs, become the next tech gurus, become the next presidents. For us, I feel that every child deserves that. And it it's the it is um the right of every child. So that's what we as UNICEF every day, that's what keeps us up. That's what makes us do the work we do, especially related to innovation. And uh yeah, so that's the way we see rights.

SPEAKER_01 32:03

Yeah, amazing. I mean, yeah, such a such a powerful mission. I'm curious actually, going back to your personal journey, because yeah, I I really, really admire and respect the the the social good that you and the whole of Emo stuff do. Yeah. Was there a moment where you, you know, did you feel called towards this? Like how did you how did you find your way into this sphere?

SPEAKER_00 32:24

Was it like a calling or a say I would say it's a calling, um, but I I feel that um we are all guided to different um for me, it's really being able to make a change. And I would say the defining moment for me was I worked in financial services and we did, you know, a lot of work there. That was early on in my career. But I would say the turning point for me was when I worked with the USAID project, which basically focused on um um providing access to essential supplies for people living with HIV, also, and it's only not just HIV, but also TB, addressing needs of malaria and also reproductive health. So I would say that journey in making sure people have access to the ARVs, the antiretroviral drugs, yeah, building the capacities of countries to do that themselves, I think that ignited a bit of innovation because people feel it's very easy for you to bring, to have access to these um supplies, but it's not so easy in many parts of the world. And yeah, what also brought it was when you begin to hear human stories, one of the stories that resonates with me up to now is we had gone for this supportive supervision in facilities, and um I met someone there who um was living with HIV, but one of the joys you get is noting that because of an innovative pro PMTCT, preventing mother-to-child transmission, she was able to abate a child is not HIV positive. And that is innovation and seeing the hope that innovation gives to people, yeah, and helping them also live their lives and and get better and um be able to live their lives. I think that for me was very enriching. And I'm really, you know, and I would say it was something that I that that helped me say this is something I want to also do. This is a journey I want to also have, and do and find it in different ways to to make that happen. So I would say that for me was um one big moment that I felt like in the patient had played role. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:47

Yeah. Yeah, well, no, thank thank you, thank you for sharing. I think it's a it's a fascinating, yeah, and uh an amazing journey that you've been on, James. Cool. Um, I guess coming coming to kind of the the wrap-up and the wrap-up and kind of reflection sessions. Anything else that I should have asked you? I know it's been quite a broad topic of you know the future of live, learn and play through through children youth. Anything you'd love like to bring to the fore, or I should have asked you? Any kind of other thoughts?

SPEAKER_00 35:15

Yeah, um, I would um say for me, it's really number one, thank you for giving me the opportunity to uh speak about the work that I do and also our UNICEF is looking at innovation. What I would want to say is the fact that innovation plays a key role in the work that UNICEF does. In our programming, every day the question we ask ourselves is how do we do better programming to address the needs of children? And innovation plays a big role in it, be it in the business model innovations, be it in the social innovations, be it in you know, thinking about how do we in our process innovations, in our product innovations, innovation plays a key role in the pro in our in the way we do our work. So that's why my perception is not about shiny things, but it's really about affecting the lives of the people. And that's why we we look at things from that lens as well. And um, for UNICEF innovation, together with our programs and together with our regions and our countries, what keeps us awake is finding those innovations every day, being able to validate those innovations and also being able to find pathways to scale them. One of the biggest work that we are doing right now is finding a way to how do we shape scaling pathways, how do we build scaling pathways that would help to reach more people. In fact, our strategic plan that I mentioned earlier, one of the key components is how do we focus, how do we scale, we differentiate, addressing different needs of different countries as well. So scale is a big part of the work that we'll be focusing on. And um, I believe that partners um um can really play a big role with us to drive the scale to every child, especially the fact that we have a network in so many countries, over 100 countries, and reaching those children, reaching those children, especially in the most vulnerable and most fragile countries. For us, that is our work, and that's also speaks to the work around advocating for the rights of every child and making sure they can achieve their dreams. So I would want to see a child, irrespective of where they are from, irrespective of what, you know, what is their circumstance, to be able to believe that I can be whatever I want to be, um, I can achieve my dreams, and um and that I would say is what brings one one of the biggest motivations for this work. So calling on partners to join us, to walk with us, to to be part of this journey with us, and um and let's let's come together to make it happen from the lens of innovation.

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Yeah, no, absolutely. No, thank you, thank you for bringing that point up. I think it's so yeah, it's so crucial, isn't it? It's almost the final step of the journey. It's not a it's not a true well, I guess it's innovation, but you know, the impact comes at scale, isn't it? Final step. How do you how do you know when something is ready to make that leap from, you know, prototype and it's a concept to okay, now we're we're in scale mode. How do you know?

SPEAKER_00 38:23

Yeah, that's a very interesting question. I think that everybody also that question, we all ask that as well. And it's not far from how it's also within the private sector. For us, number one is out I would take it from three key lens. The first is that it's solving the problem. Number one, that's established. We from, as you said, from the prototype, that is already established. There is a problem we're trying to solve. And I would what I would do is I would talk about you know the eye level, but I'll also talk about how we do that, you know, from the UNICEF lens. So the first is around do we have a demand for this? We have the demand. When we've gone through that testing and piloting phase, is there a real, is the demand growing? Is this really, is this something people care about? So um from the lens of not just children, but also, as I said, the when we think about children, we look at it from a multidimensional lens. So be it parents, be it institutions, be it governments, be it partners, be it schools, be it, you know, we look at it from that lens. So is there a demand for it? We also consider really the business model. Is this business model replicable? Is it working? That is one of the big things as well. And as you know, you know, the business model is is is very clear to us. The third is do we have the systems and the capabilities to make it scale? You know, because you could have a nice, you could have demand, you could have the business, right business model and value proposition, but then do we have the capabilities for it to actually um and the systems for it to actually scale? So that for us is something that we also consider. But I wanted to bring the dimension of how we do that in UNICEF with using the 5D framework as well, which was developed by the evidence team in the UNICEF Office of Innovation, which provides like a structured way to identify, validate, and scale innovation. So we look at five areas basically. Is it actually an innovation? You know, do we have the right business model? Is it delivering the programming path that we need? Is this scalable? And where we look at scalability is that is it able to reach more people? And then we consider the risk. We have a no do no um um approach. So we have to really put that into, and that speaks to the safeguarding I mentioned as well. So these are the five dimensions we consider, and we do have evidence thresholds that we need to consider before we move to scale. So in our maturity model, we do have the pilot, accelerate, transition to scale and scale. And at each of those points, before we transition, we do have our evidence base, but based on be it's um the 5D assessments, we have our impact assessment. So we do have all this to help us put evidence to the work that we do. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

So that's how But I you know, I really like that D's model. I think that absolutely makes sense. Is there is there anything you're currently working on now that you might be able to share and you know where they are in that stage gate process?

SPEAKER_00 41:27

For Kids Atheat, it started as a pilot, basically. And right now it has, you know, we are moving to a case whereby a number of countries like Kenya, they are trying to scale that up as well. Also in collaboration with um Innovation Norway, we are trying to see how we can, you know, be able to accelerate that to reach more people, but also to reach more countries as well. So, so you know, in you know, Kids Afit has also gone through that process. Every year we have what we call like a portfolio review where we look at all of our solutions, understand which ones do we need to keep, which ones do we need to continue with, or which ones do we need to exit. And exit is not that we would abandon it, but exit is like is it meeting our priorities? Do we have the systems to keep it? Or maybe another team is better suited to drive that innovation. So for Kids Defeat, that solution has gone through that process as well. But we've also had social innovation work like Upshift. Upshift is like um a social accelerator that helps communities to um, we bring young people together that helps communities to come up with their own, look at their own problems and find solutions and innovations for it themselves. Oh, amazing. Upshift is one of the big um, it's you know, if you type Upshift UNICEF, you will see it there. And Upshift is really one of the um programs that we've had, and it's been applied across a number of um areas as well, be it in in climate, in education, you know, it's really helping to bring young people to drive it. And it's also been integrated into educational systems as well. So that's also one of the solutions that have gone from parallel to accelerate to transition to scale at the moment. So reaching over, you know, a lot of countries at the moment. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:21

Well, fantastic, fantastic. Thank you for bringing it to life. Okay, really, really final question. But no, I've really loved this discussion. Thank you so much. We've covered lots of topics and thank you for your openness and your your honesty and authenticity.

SPEAKER_00 43:33

Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 43:34

I guess kind of going back to what you what you started talking about, actually, about you know, innovation is doing something better and and helping people live and and be better. What's what's one idea um or thought from today's conversation that you'd love to to take forward and for our listeners to take forward to to start to do that to kind of live better?

SPEAKER_00 43:53

But um I have so many in my mind, but I would I would stick to I'll stick to one one big one and one. Big um one big mandate some I would say think about the child, think about the young person, yeah, as you uh come up with new uh uh products, as you come up with innovations, or as you build new partnerships related to innovation, as you ideate, as you test, as you pilot, as you you know engage with stakeholders, as you shape business model, put children at the center of it.

SPEAKER_01 44:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:30

Think about the child, think about the next generation, think about the unborn child, think about the newborn, think about the mothers, think about the fathers, and think about the community, but making sure that the child is really at the center of it all. As a father of um a seven and a ten-year-old, I believe that it's not just about the UNICEF mandate, it's also my own, it's also close to my heart because I would want, you know, I would want them to be able to benefit from innovation, but also themselves being able to innovate as well. So if there's anything I would want anyone listening to is begin to think about the child, begin to ask the right questions about children in whatever work you're doing. If you are building, even if it's a startup, if you are building a product, if you are doing a new thing, if you a new process, um, let's think about the child. And I feel that that helps to open up new opportunities as well. Because I want people to also not see it as just it's a nice thing to do. I want them to see that when a child is at the center of what you're doing, it opens up a big opportunity that you can never imagine. It opens up new market segments, it opens up new um new ideas. In fact, children are the best agents of ideation. So, you know, it's like, you know, they think wild. They say, Mommy, why can't I, you know, or daddy, why can't I, you know, why can't we build a car that flies? Why can't we, you know, why, you know, they build a nice boat and say, oh, this needs to float on water. So basically just knowing that, you know, they are important to the process and we should think about them. I feel that, you know, and any successful business in the world, that is one thing that I would say makes them very distinct. The fact that they think about children and they um put children at the center. And that's UNICEF is also here to make that happen as well.

SPEAKER_01 46:24

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, yes, what a powerful note to end on. Thank you so much, Ada. Really, yeah, nodding along to everything that you said. I think it really strikes me that, you know, that's that's in my that's in everyone's room. And I think we can listen to you and be very inspired, but think, you know, if he's in social good, that's a set. But actually, that's something that any innovation, you can think about the next generation and the child and put put them at the center. And social good is down to every industry. And it also, I think the you know, if if you get it right, it drives commercial value. I think that's also a a good case for change in this world.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

Yeah, it's a good business case.

SPEAKER_01 47:00

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much, Addy. Really, really appreciate it. I've loved this conversation.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

Thank you so much, and thank you. I want to say thank you for the opportunity. And it was really good to talk, you know, to really talk with your team and um really, you know, look at some of this um from a different lens as well. So really thank you for the opportunity as well, and um looking forward to the great work you continue to do, especially for children and young people.

SPEAKER_01 47:26

Thanks for listening to Codex Futures. If today's episode sparked new ideas, we'd love to hear from you. Email me at louise.newson at triptych.com. Triptych is spelt T-R-I-P-T K. Follow Triptych on LinkedIn and subscribe to our Codex newsletter as we explore more perspectives shaping tomorrow.